Month: December 2013

Cedar Ridge Winery and Distillery

The development of a distillery…Cedar Ridge Vineyard opened 12 years ago and was looking to differentiate itself from the market. This is where the distillery idea came to fruition. In the heart of a grain country a new idea was born and implemented. It is a cool story. Learn and listen more to Jeff Quint’s

Shipping and Receiving Samples

This time of year can be very frustrating with respect to delays in shipping. Many people are extremely unhappy because their orders are not being received in time for Christmas. In addition, may people ship packages to friends and family and they await anxiously for their packages to arrive. Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world

Consumer Reports – Raw Chicken Study

97% of Chicken products contaminated with bacteria. This is a bit alarming. Would people really eat raw chicken? The answer is yes! Herein lies the problem. See more in this news story. Consumer Reports tested the raw chicken for six kinds of bacteria. More than a tenth of the poultry contained two kinds of bacteria

Restaurants are Turning Food Waste into Compost

Check out this story about restaurant food waste being turned into compost. Table scrapped food that is not eaten is saved and collected by a cooperative of 2,000 restaurants. 300 tons of wasted is collected daily. The waste is treated for 90 days and then it is delivered as compost to local growers. The compost

Biofuel Production Explained for the Classroom.

Check out this video which really gives a gret perspective of what biofuels are and how biofuels are produced. Lots of great information about the current state of biofuels, the challenges that biofuels face and some ways that biofuels are being produced using cellulosic materials and algae. If you are a school teacher who talks

FDA wants farmers to limit antibiotics

Listen to this farmer in this news story. Antibioitics should be used when animals get sick. Some farmers use antibioitics to help add weight to animals. Responsible antibiotic use has been around with livestock producers. This isn’t a new idea. This inititative by the FDA has been announced as a voluntary limit and more inforation

Fracking – Going Waterless

Check out this article, “Waterless fracking can eliminate toxic wastewater – December 7, 2013. It talks about the current process of using large volumes of water to bring oil from shale rock to the surface. The debate is out as to whether this process is environmentally safe. The following article mentions the use of propane

Analysis Planning for 2014

This time of year the client services staff receives many inquiries through phone calls and the company website. It is a great time to call-in and have questions answered with respect to analysis capabilities and pricing information for budget planning purposes. This information is also very helpful to our Midwest Laboratories staff. Each year we

Stinky Tap Water – Find out more about the cause

Check out this story of some stinky water in Des Moines, Iowa. Homeowners were complaining about smelly, dirty, musty water. It is an interesting look at how organic matter directly affects our public drinking water. The slight warm-up this past week brought organic matter, (dead plants and leaves) into the river. The local water works